NE Times: Mayfair Civic Meeting by Tom Waring

Mayfair Civic Association OK with day care

By Tom Waring 

The Mayfair Civic Association last week came to an agreement with a day care operator, while opposition seems to be mounting toward a proposed fitness center.
Elizabeth Cruz, a native of Colombia, is permitted to care for up to four children at her single home at 2849 Rhawn St. in Lexington Park, but she was seeking a zoning variance to increase that total to 12. She’s lived there for seven years.
Cruz has passed a child-abuse check by authorities and said she doesn’t drink or smoke. She showed pictures of the inside and outside of her house. She has sealed her fireplace for safety. She said part of her program will be to teach the kids to speak Spanish.
Opponents of her bid to expand don’t want a business operating on a residential block and pointed out that the nearby Northeast Community Center offers day care. They also cited the busy intersection at Rhawn Street and Lexington Avenue and what they believe to be a small area for the children to play in outside.
“There is no place for those kids to play,” one woman said.
Some neighbors worried that children will be dropped off in the common driveway and were generally concerned about traffic and parking issues.
Cruz said the youngsters start getting dropped off at 6:15 a.m.
“Most of the people are sleeping,” she said.
In the end, Cruz agreed to the civic group’s request to ask the Zoning Board of Adjustment to care for up to eight children, not 12.
In other news from the May 21 meeting:
• Planet Fitness wants to open in a former Fashion Bug store at 6420 Frankford Ave. in the Mayfair Shopping Center.
Attorney Ron Patterson explained at the civic group’s March meeting that the 10,000-square-foot gym would be open 24 hours a day. It would include tanning beds.
A hearing is scheduled for June 13 in front of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
At last week’s meeting, concerns were raised about traffic, parking and the hours of operation. Neighbors note that there is a Galaxy Tans location in the shopping center.
If the center is approved, neighbors want the people hired for construction and permanent jobs to come from the area.
Meanwhile, the civic group has concerns about trash outside the Northeast International Supermarket, at 2842 St. Vincent St. The supermarket is seeking a zoning variance to offer takeout food.
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